Night of Too Many Stars

Last updated

Night of Too Many Stars is a fundraising telethon for autism. [1] It has been held every two or three years since 2003. The event was founded by Robert Smigel after learning that his son was diagnosed with autism. [2] Comedian Jon Stewart often hosts the show.

Contents

Events

2012

The 2012 event aired on October 21, 2012 on Comedy Central and was held at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Auctions included:

Bill Burr performed some stand-up comedy.

Jon Stewart introduced friend and frequent sparring partner conservative Bill O'Reilly of FOX News, and liberal Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball who agreed to have a debate onstage with the catch being they had to inhale helium balloons before answering each question. John King moderated the debate.

The event closed by Sting singing Roxanne with Jon Stewart, Louis C.K., Bill Burr, Seth Rogen, Carly Rae Jepsen, Katy Perry, Hannibal Buress, J. B. Smoove, Tom Morello, Paul Reps, and Harvey Keitel

2015

The 2015 event aired on Comedy Central on March 8, but was taped a week earlier. It was two hours long and held at the Beacon Theatre. [2]

Jodi DiPiazza performed a duet with "Weird Al" Yankovic. [4]

2017

The 2017 event at the Theater at Madison Square Garden was broadcast live by HBO on 18 November. Louis C.K. was scheduled to appear on the show but was dropped by HBO following his misconduct allegations against him. Jon Stewart hosted the show.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Seinfeld</span> American comedian and actor (born 1954)

Jerome Allen Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), which he created and wrote with Larry David. The show aired on NBC from 1989 until 1998, becoming one of the most acclaimed and popular sitcoms of all time. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. In 2004, Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time.

The Daily Show is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire form from recent news stories as well as political figures, media organizations, and often uses self-referential humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Stewart</span> American comedian and television host (born 1962)

Jon Stewart is an American comedian, political commentator, actor, director and television host. He hosted The Daily Show, a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts The Problem with Jon Stewart, which premiered September 2021 on Apple TV+.

<i>UHF</i> (film) 1989 film by Jay Levey

UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Stanley Brock, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva; the film is dedicated to Silva, who died shortly after filming wrapped. The film was directed by Jay Levey, Yankovic's manager, who also co-wrote the screenplay with him. The film was originally released by Orion Pictures and is currently owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Yankovic and Levey struggled to find a production company to finance the film, but were eventually able to get Orion's support after stating they could keep the film costs under $5 million. Principal photography took place around Tulsa, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Attell</span> American stand-up comedian

David Attell is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell, which earned him a cult following. His work has drawn admiration from many comedians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Smigel</span> American comedian, writer, puppeteer and actor

Robert Smigel is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his Saturday Night Live "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He also co-wrote the first two Hotel Transylvania films and You Don't Mess with the Zohan, all starring Adam Sandler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aidan Quinn</span> Irish American actor (born 1959)

Aidan Quinn is an American actor who made his film debut in Reckless (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), The Mission (1986), Stakeout (1987), Avalon (1990), Benny & Joon (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Michael Collins (1996), Practical Magic (1998), Song for a Raggy Boy (2003), and Unknown (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judd Apatow</span> American comedian and filmmaker (born 1967)

Judd Apatow is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">57th Primetime Emmy Awards</span> Prime time Emmy Awards of 2005

The 57th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 18, 2005, and were hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. BBC America received its first major nomination this year.

"Yoda" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic from his third album, Dare to Be Stupid (1985). It is a parody of the song "Lola" by the Kinks. Inspired by the events of the movie The Empire Strikes Back, the song is told from the point of view of Jedi-in-training Luke Skywalker and concerns his dealings with Master Yoda on the planet Dagobah. The song was initially written and recorded in 1980, during the original release of The Empire Strikes Back and achieved success on The Dr. Demento Show; however, securing permission from both Star Wars creator George Lucas and "Lola" songwriter Ray Davies delayed the physical release of the song for about five years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Federman</span> American comedian

Wayne Federman is an Emmy Award winning American comedian, actor, author, writer, comedy historian, producer, and musician. He is noted for numerous stand-up comedy appearances in clubs, theaters, and on television; his book on The History of Stand-Up; and supporting comedic acting roles in The X-Files, The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Crashing, Silicon Valley, Legally Blonde, 50 First Dates, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Step Brothers. He was the head monologue writer for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in its first season. He won a 2022 Primetime Emmy Award for producing the HBO documentary George Carlin's American Dream.

Paul Mecurio is a comedian, actor, writer and producer. Mecurio has dozens of TV and film appearances and has won an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award. A lawyer by education, Mecurio worked as an investment banker and mergers and acquisitions lawyer before he turned to stand-up comedy full time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Drysdale</span> American comedy writer (born 1969)

Eric Drysdale is a writer for The Colbert Report,The Daily Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. He has been nominated for twenty-one Emmys and won ten. In addition to TV writing, Drysdale has written and produced live shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and also performs stand-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Jefferies</span> Australian stand-up comedian, actor and writer

Geoff James Nugent, known professionally as Jim Jefferies, is an Australian comedian, actor, and writer who holds dual Australian and American citizenship. He created and starred in the American FX sitcom Legit (2013–2014) and the Comedy Central late-night show The Jim Jefferies Show (2017–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comedy Cellar</span> Comedy club in New York City

The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York comedians perform. It is widely considered to be the best comedy club in the United States. It was founded in 1982 by then stand-up comedian, and current television writer/producer Bill Grundfest. It is located in Greenwich Village on 117 Macdougal Street between West 3rd Street and Minetta Lane. Above the club is a restaurant called The Olive Tree Cafe to which it is connected, where many of the comedians hang out after performing. The club is owned by Noam Dworman, who inherited it from his late father, Manny, and run by booker Estee Adoram, who has developed the club's talent for nearly four decades. The businesses share the same menu, kitchen, and staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">61st Primetime Emmy Awards</span> Prime time Emmy Awards of 2009

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! broadcast the Creative Arts event; both took place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations were announced on July 16, 2009.

The 64th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2011. Winners were announced on February 19, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NEXT for AUTISM</span>

NEXT for AUTISM is a non-profit organization founded in 2003 to address the needs of autistic people and their families. The organization was founded by Laura and Harry Slatkin and Ilene Lainer, none of whom outwardly identify as autistic, making this a non-autistic-led organization. One of NEXT for AUTISM's most well known accomplishments was opening the first charter school in New York to exclusively serve autistic students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis C.K. filmography</span> Films played and awards received by Louis C.K.

American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and filmmaker Louis C.K. began his career performing stand-up while simultaneously making short films. When he was 17, he directed a comedic short film titled Trash Day (1984). His third short film, Ice Cream, won the grand prize at the Aspen Shortsfest in 1993. In the same year, he began writing for Late Night with Conan O'Brien before leaving the next year. His next writing job was on Late Show with David Letterman in 1995, and directed a series of shorts for Howie Mandel's Sunny Skies on television, followed by acting as head writer for The Dana Carvey Show (1997) and a writer on The Chris Rock Show (1997–1999). He voiced a fictional version of himself on four episodes of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist from 1996 to 2002. He directed his first feature, Tomorrow Night, in 1998, which failed to attract any distributors and was later re-released by C.K. on his website in 2014.

Jodi DiPiazza is an American musician, composer, vocalist, and autism advocate. She was diagnosed with autism some time before her second birthday. A musical prodigy, she has absolute pitch. She learned to play the piano at age three, being able to hear a song and reproduce it. She also plays other instruments and performs in a number of genres.

References

  1. "Night of Too Many Stars - Series". Archived from the original on 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  2. 1 2 "At autism fund-raiser, too many funny 'Stars'" by Donna Freydkin, USA Today , March 8, 2015
  3. "Louis CK's Awkward Christmas Card Photo with al Pacino and Jon Stewart (And the Morning Links)". 22 October 2012.
  4. "Weird Al Yankovic, young people with autism sing 'Yoda' on telethon". Los Angeles Times. 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  5. "Canada's Carly Fleischmann is All Grown up with Her Own Talk Show". 3 May 2016.
  6. "The Highs and Lows of Night of Too Many Stars, Jon Stewart's Autism Benefit Show" by Katla McGlynn, Vulture , November 19, 2017